Cooler Temps = Better Performance?

[royalkangaroo]

Just some thought, it's been ~90 degrees out and very humid here the past week. Yesterday it dropped to a high of about 62 and today, 56 degrees. With that said, my truck's performance (acceleration & responsiveness) seems significantly better with the cooler temps. Anyone noticed the same?

[newdude]

Normal.

[fbachman]

Assuming you are not turbo or super charged, the following holds true:

 

Your piston, on its downstroke, pulls in a fixed VOLUME of air every time.

 

Hot air at a given volume represents less mass than the same volume of COLD air.

 

More mass of air = more fuel at combustion time (air-fuel ratio is held around 14.6 unless you are at WOT, then it is 12.1 +/-). For the sake of this discussion, assume AFR is constant.

 

More mass of air = more fuel = more power. That's about

[mookdoc6]

Should be expected! I always had problems though at -0 and below not sure why?

[royalkangaroo]

I understand the physics behind it. I'm just surprised that a 30 degree difference of ambient temperature makes for a drastic difference in these vehicles.

[mookdoc6]

I understand the physics behind it. I'm just surprised that a 30 degree difference of ambient temperature makes for a drastic difference in these vehicles.

 

 

In phoenix it's 115f is where the everything starts to be very apparent especially with vehicles? You can drive all day long at 110-112 then the day it's 115 and your seeing it car every 1000ft on side of road during rush hour blown tires and hoods up.......COuld never get the damn AC cold on GMT 900's out here....aghhh

[Sean Neilan]

Wait til it drops below 40 and your mpg drops 2-3 doing the same driving you've been doing.

[Silverado Steve]

Wouldnt the same hold true, the more dense the air is, the more drag and resistance to the aerodynamics of your vehicle as well?

[royalkangaroo]

Should be expected! I always had problems though at -0 and below not sure why?

What type of issues? The only thing I've noticed when it gets that cold is the truck seems to crank over a few times longer before it starts than my 2010 Silverado.

[mookdoc6]

What type of issues? The only thing I've noticed when it gets that cold is the truck seems to crank over a few times longer before it starts than my 2010 Silverado.

 

 

Everything COLD is just as bad as HOT everything gets taxed until it breaks...........

[Sierra706]

Wouldnt the same hold true, the more dense the air is, the more drag and resistance to the aerodynamics of your vehicle as well?

Bad for top speed runs, not so much for acceleration from stop and lower speeds

 

 

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[Limited360]

30 degrees in ambient temp change is huge in terms of spark advance on an engine. Every degree counts, 1-2 degrees of advance is noticeable for sure!

[Donstar]

The cold air power boost is noticeable on my Harley but I haven't noticed this with my truck. I wonder if winter blends of gasoline can also impact our truck's performance?

[Brandon5799]

Colder the better to a certain extent. That’s why you see drag cars (mostly turbo & supercharged) put ice on their intakes between runs.